Ko. (i.] IIUUKER — CARXIVOROUS HABITS OF I'LANTS. 350 



pretty cuniplete, owing to the observations of two 8tjiith Carolina 

 physicians. One, Dr. M 'Bride, made his observations lialf a 

 century ago, but they had, till quite recently, completely fallen 

 into oblivion. He devoted himself to the ta^k of ascertnining 

 why it was that Sarraeenia V(tri'>hiris was vi>ited by flies, and 

 how it was that it captured them. This is wh.it he ascertained : 

 "The cause which attracts flies is evidentlv a viscid substance 

 resembling honey, secreted by or exuding from the internal sur- 

 face of the tube. From tlie margin, where it con)mences, it does 

 not extend lower than one-fourth of an inch. The falling of the 

 insect as soon as it enters the tube is wholly attribut;tble to the 

 downward or inverted position of the hnirs of the internal sur- 

 face of the leaf. At the bottom of a tube split open, the hairs 

 are plainly discernible, pointing downwards ; as the eye ranges 

 upward they gradually become shorter and attenuated, till at or 

 just below the surface covered by the bait ihey are no longer per- 

 ceptible to the naked eye, nor to the most delicate touch. It 

 is here that the fly cannot take a hold sufficiently strong to support 

 itself, but falls." 



Dr. Mellichamp, who is now resident in the district in which 

 Dr. M'Bride made his observations, has added a good many par- 

 ticulars to our knowledge. He first investigated the fluid which 

 is secreted at the bottom of the tubes. He satisfied himself tlutt 

 it was really secreted, and describes it as mucilaginous, but leav. 

 ing in the mouth a peculiar astringency. He compared the ac- 

 tion of this fluid with that of distilled w^ater on pieces of fresh 

 venison, and found that after fifteen hours the fluid had produced 

 most change, and also most smell ; he therefore concluded that 

 as the leaves when stuflied with insects become most disgusting 

 in odour, we have to do, not with a true digestion, but with an 

 accelerated decomposition. Although he did not attribute any 

 true digestive power to the fluid secreted by the pitchers, he 

 found that it had a remarkable an«)>thetic effect on flies im- 

 iTK^rsed in it. He remarked that " a fly when thrown into water 

 is very apt to escape, as the fluid seems to rnn from its wings, " 

 but it never escaped from the Sarraeenia secretion. About half 

 a minute after being thrown in, the fly became to all .appearance 

 dead, though, if removed, it gradually recovered in fnmi hnlf ;in 

 hour to an hour. 



According to Dr. Mellichamp, the sugary lure discovered by 

 Dr. M'Bride, at the mouth of the pitchers, is not found on eitlity 



